Golden Knights put winning streak on line against Avalanche

In his own way, Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer acknowledged the team’s current nine-game winning streak didn’t come against a murderer’s row of competition.

He said as much after Saturday’s victory at Anaheim that set the franchise record for consecutive wins and again Tuesday.

But all that changes Wednesday when the first-place Knights host the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena with a chance to pull away in the race for the West Division crown.

“You don’t win nine in a row in this league, regardless of the opponents, unless you’re playing solid,” DeBoer said. “It wasn’t that long ago we were quite a ways on the outside looking in with not a lot of hope of catching Colorado.

“The fact that we’ve done what we’ve done over the last month in order to put ourselves in this spot is a testament to our group. And now we’ve just got to make sure our game’s in a good place over the last nine (games).”

The Knights trailed the Avalanche by four points with a game in hand April 9. Since then, they haven’t lost and overtook Colorado while its schedule was paused this month after several players entered COVID protocol.

A regulation victory by the Knights (34-11-2, 70 points) would create a six-point advantage over Colorado (31-11-4) and just about lock up their third division title in four seasons.

If the Knights then split their remaining eight games to reach 80 points, Colorado would have to go 7-2 down the stretch to tie. The teams conclude their season series May 10 at T-Mobile Arena.

Minnesota, which hosts St. Louis on Wednesday and sits five points back of the Knights, would need 15 points from its final nine games to tie under that scenario.

“We worked hard all year to put ourselves in a position that we can be the best team in the league,” left wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “It’s the most important game. Definitely have to show up.”

The Knights’ winning streak was built against Arizona, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose, the bottom four teams in the current standings with a combined record of 72-97-23 as of Tuesday.

And they’re catching Colorado at a good time, too. The Avalanche have lost two straight and will be without wingers Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi and goalie Philipp Grubauer, according to coach Jared Bendar.

“We’re going through a little bit of a rut, and it’s coincided with the COVID break, the injuries, the guys we have missing, and it’s a little bit of a battle for us right now,” Bednar said. “But sometimes that adversity is good.”

The teams have each won three games in the season series and split two games last month in Denver. Colorado cruised 5-1 in the opener before the Knights answered with a 3-2 overtime win.

When the Knights have had success against Colorado, they’ve been able to neutralize star center Nathan MacKinnon and been physical on the forecheck against the Avalanche’s mobile but undersized defense corps.

“I think the biggest thing is our first forechecker, we’re going to have to be on the body,” Marchessault said. “Going to have to finish our checks, and second and third forward coming in, be ready to recover those pucks. It’s going to be a fast game and physical game, but our team is up for the challenge.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.